Most vocabulary growth during the school-age years occurs incidentally. However, little is understood about the influence of language skills on word knowledge growth during reading. Using a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, we examined incidental word learning through reading, considering the presence/absence of supportive context and…

Previous studies have shown that students with low knowledge understand and learn better from more cohesive texts, whereas high-knowledge students have been shown to learn better from texts of lower cohesion. This study examines whether high-knowledge readers in computer science benefit from a text of low cohesion. Undergraduate students (n = 65)…

This study tests a process model of learning in which trainer and trainee traits are simultaneously considered as endogenous variables of learning outcomes. The article builds on a social view of training and similarity-attraction paradigms. In this context, the authors hypothesize that trainer-trainee similarity in personality (agreeableness)…

NEW INTELLECTUAL APTITUDES WERE INVESTIGATED TO DETERMINE TO WHAT EXTENT THEY INFLUENCE ACHIEVEMENT IN NINTH-GRADE ALGEBRA AND GENERAL MATHEMATICS COURSES. TESTS AND CRITERIA WERE COMPLETED FOR APPROXIMATELY 400 STUDENTS IN THE NINTH GRADE. THEY WERE ENROLLED IN ONE OF FOUR MATHEMATICS COURSES AND ADMINISTERED ACHIEVEMENT EXAMINATIONS UPON…

The purpose of this paper is to report on a pilot investigation of the operation of the Bloom and Carroll hypothesis which states that aptitudes are predictive of rate of learning given a situation in which the time allowed for learning is unlimited, and pupil perserverance, ability to understand instruction, and quality of instruction are…

It is argued that the close relationship between learning and testing is best exemplified in achievement tests, which are designed both to reinforce learning and to provide feedback about the effectiveness of teaching. Of the four types of achievement tests (placement, formative, diagnostic, and summative), two (formative and diagnostic) are…

Arguing that a thorough understanding of time and its use in school learning may help improve the schools the author reviews the research pertaining to models of school learning, mastery learning, and the parameter of time in the learning process. (JM)

High school students studying French as a second language in Toronto were administered a questionnaire and a variety of achievement tests in French. Results were analyzed to determine the effects of learner characteristics on the development of second language competence. Four factors in learning success were posited: attitude, strategy, aptitude,…